What Feels Right
by AllHaleEzria
Summary: When The Montgomerys return from Iceland, Aria stays in Rosewood while her family head to California. What happens when Aria meets a dashing guy that lives in the apartment below her? And what happens when she finds out something that gives their relationship no chance? Will she do what feels right?
1. Chapter 1

A/N There is no A.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars.

What Feels Right – Chapter 1

Aria sighed as the key turned in the lock letting her into her new home. Her father followed her in carrying the last of her items from the car. He placed them on the sofa and turned to face Aria.

'Are you sure you're ok with this?'

'I'm fine Dad.' she reassured him. The last thing she wanted to do right now was move across the country, she didn't need another Iceland experience. When the year in Iceland was up Byron Montgomery had received another job offer in California but Aria was dead set on not going. Iceland was a tough experience for her, she found it hard to fit in and didn't make any friends, at least she knew people in Rosewood. Byron and Ella had made a compromise, Aria could stay in Rosewood as long as she lived in an apartment rather than their big house. At least then she would have neighbours close by and she'd be in a safer environment. Aria agreed with her parents that they would come home or she would go to California once every three months and they would communicate everyday via text.

'Ok, well that's the last of your bags so I'm gonna head out. Our flight lands at 9pm your time so we'll give you a text when we get there. Your car should be here by Wednesday and please don't forget school starts early tomorrow as you have an introduction to senior year speech.'

'It's fine Dad, I'm perfectly capable.' Aria reassured him with a small smile.

'I know.' he pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. 'Keep in contact ok?' With one last look at Aria he walked quickly out of the apartment shutting the door behind him. Aria sighed and sat down on the sofa next to her things. She reached into the bag on the top and rummaged around. She pulled out a bottle of vodka and a glass and placed them both on the coffee table in front of her. She then walked over to the fridge (which her mother had ensured was fully stocked) and pulled out the bottle of lemonade and returned to her spot on the sofa. She looked around the small apartment, there were only two rooms to it, the kitchen, sitting room and bedroom were all one room and the bathroom adjoined the bedroom area. She looked back to the coffee table and poured herself a glass of lemonade spiking it with the vodka and drunk it all in one. Aria wasn't usually the type to drink, she didn't know why she stole the vodka from her dad but she was glad she had it now. Was it the right decision to stay here alone? Aria didn't know and she didn't know if she could even cope with it.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a loud abrupt knock at the door. Aria got up quickly and walked over to the door secretly hoping it would be her father offering for her to come with them. She opened the door to see a man that definitely wasn't her father. He was tall with black curly hair and a fantastic jawline. He wore a black long sleeved shirt, grey trousers and converse. He looked like the shy nerdy type. Aria smiled awkwardly as he looked her up and down. He looked into her eyes and nervously coughed.

'Hi, I'm Ezra, I heard you just moved in.' he said holding up a bottle of white wine. Aria eyed him suspiciously. According to her father, you had to be over eighteen to live in a place like this but since that was only a few months away he thought it would be fine. So she guessed everyone in the building must be assuming she was of the legal age to drink. She smiled.

'Hi I'm Aria.'

'Yeah well it turns out I live directly below you in 3B so I guess we're kind of neighbours so I thought the gracious thing to do would be to bring alcohol! And it's good wine! I've heard Chablis is one of the best you can get.' Aria laughed at his mispronunciation of the word.

'Um I think you pronounce it Chab-ley.' Aria replied with a playful smile on her face.

'Ok smarty pants, are you gonna invite me in?'

'Oh yeah, sure.' Aria responded. 'Sorry for the mess, I kinda just got here.'

'Sorry. I mean if you'd rather be alone?'

'No! No. I actually appreciate the company.' Aria could tell this guy was her kind of guy. She liked him. He took a seat on the sofa while Aria pulled a couple of wine glasses out of the boxes and poured her and Ezra a glass of wine. She handed Ezra his whilst he eye the bottle of vodka and the empty glass suspiciously.

'Did you have your sights on something stronger?' Aria joked.

'No. I was just thinking, it's a bad idea to mix your alcoholic beverages.'

'Don't worry Ezra, I'm a big girl I can look after myself.' he smiled and looked into her eyes. She broke eye contact by taking a sip of her wine, he followed suit.

'So how old are you exactly? Tell me about yourself.' Aria thought carefully. Should she tell this guy the truth about her age?

'You go first.' Ezra smiled and nodded.

'Ok, well. I'm Ezra, I'm 24 and just about to start my first teaching job. I studied English at Hollis and enjoy reading. My favourite book is The Great Gatsby.' Ezra smiled dashingly at Aria causing her cheeks to turn red. 'Your turn.' Ezra smirked. Aria chuckled, something he seemed to keep making her do.

'I don't know what to say. I'm kinda uninteresting.'

'Well what's your major?'

'Um well I'm leaning toward English.'

'See we have something in common already! Do you write.'

'Yeah but it's mostly personal. For me.'

'That's great! You seem like a great girl Aria.' Aria smiled at his compliment and pushed her hair behind her ears. She emptied her glass of wine and turned to Ezra.

'Top up?' she said. 'Or we could have something stronger?' Aria tilted her head towards the bottle of vodka on the coffee table. 'Unless you don't want to mix your beverages?' Ezra chuckled.

'Go for it. I bet you're a lightweight.' Ezra took a moment to think about what he was just about to do. Tomorrow he was starting his first ever job, was it really sensible to drink more than usual tonight of all nights? But Aria enticed him, he felt he had to get to know her. He leaned forward and picked up the vodka bottle and picked up the glass Aria had left on the table. He poured the vodka into the glass until the glass was about a quarter full. He then brought the glass to his lips and downed the liquid all at once. Aria sat back in shock. Ezra smirked.

'Beat that.' Aria took the bottle off of Ezra and filled it half full. Ezra's eyed widen as the petite girl brought the glass to her lips. She downed it in one wincing as it travelled down her throat. Ezra smiled. Taking the bottle and glass back from her her poured himself another glass. No one was going to beat him. Especially her.

One bottle of vodka later Aria and Ezra were still sitting on her sofa in her unpacked apartment. Ezra had a glass of wine in his hand and Aria poured the last contents of the bottle into her glass. She turned back to face Ezra and giggled loudly.

'What?' Ezra asked.

'I don't know. I just feel weird.' It was clear to Ezra that Aria was drunk and he found her even cuter if that were possible. He wasn't at all put together either. He could feel the room slowly spinning and that all to familiar sick feeling.

'Me too.' Ezra said chuckling. Aria put her glass of wine down and placed her hand on Ezra's thigh. She took his glass and put it on the coffee table and wrapped her legs around him so she was straddling him. She brought her lips to his and passionately kissed him. Ezra quickly responded by slipping his tongue into her mouth. Aria moaned as he turned her over lying on top of her on the sofa now. She pulled of his shirt before pulling off hers leaving her just in her bra. She resumed the kiss running her hands up and down his bare back. Suddenly Ezra pulled away sitting upright on the sofa. He reached for his shirt and pulled it on.

'Did I do something wrong?' Aria asked.

'No. No Aria I'm sorry. It's just I'm starting a new job tomorrow and I really need to prepare tonight and I've been stupid to stay here that long. I'll tell you what, can I see you again on Saturday. I'll be more with it then. You seem like a great girl and I'd like to know more about you.' Aria nodded.

'Ok. Yeah, Saturday's good for me.' Ezra smiled and got up.

'Ok well I'll come over at about 7?'

'Yeah, sounds cool.' Aria said slipping her shirt over her head. She got up and stood in front of Ezra. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly then left. Aria smiled to herself and looked around the apartment. The alcohol was starting to lose the effect but she still had a buzz. Aria decided to do something useful so she started work on unpacking the kitchen and moving glasses from the boxes and putting them in the cabinets on the walls.

Aria awoke at 7.30am to the sound of her alarm. She showered and dressed. She wore a black high low dress and cute black wedges. She packed her bag with the essentials and left by 8. She had to walk to school for the first two days because her car was being dropped off on Wednesday but Aria didn't mind, she had always enjoyed walking and it meant she could get a coffee on the way. She stopped at the Brew and picked up a mocha and then continued on to Rosewood High, a building she had not seen for two years. It felt kind of weird to be back but Aria had missed it.

'Aria?' Aria heard her old best friend's voice behind her, after she had left for Iceland, she hadn't really kept in touch with any of them.

'Em?' Aria said turning around.

'The others will be so excited to see you! When did you get back?'

'Yesterday.' Aria said excitedly. She was so excited to see her old friends and could feel all awkwardness melting away. Aria and Emily walked into school where she saw her old friends. The familiar blond curls of Hanna Marin and the preppy outfit of Spencer Hastings. Aria smiled as they ran and hugged her. They spent the most of home room and senior year induction catching up. Emily introduced Aria to her girlfriend, Paige, who Aria thought was totally cool. Then she met Hanna's boyfriend Caleb and Spencer's boyfriend Toby. She knew Toby from the past as he had grown up in the neighbourhood too but she'd never really had much to do with him. Everyone welcomed her back with open arms, it was almost like she had never left. It turned out they all had taken AP English so they were all headed to room 46 for first period.

The four girls walked down the hall as though nothing had changed smiling and laughing. Spencer leaned over to Aria.

'So I hear the new English teacher is really hot and since we are all in relationships, we are giving him to you.' Spencer joked. Aria laughed. The girls walked into the room and took their seats . Aria pulled out The Great Gatsby from her bag and began to read her favourite book.

_ In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since._

Aria heard the door shut as her English teacher entered the room walked to the board and wrote his name. Aria looked up at the board. _Mr Fitz. _

'Hello I'm am your new English teacher.' he said whilst looking through the papers on his desk. Aria has heard that voice before in fact she had heard it very recently she looked up as he looked up and they made eye contact.

'Holy crap.' he said. She gasped as she looked into the eyes of Ezra Fitz. The guy she had a date with on Saturday night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_ 'Holy crap.' he said. She gasped as she looked into the eyes of Ezra Fitz. The guy she had a date with on Saturday night._

The class turned to Aria as she continued to stare at her new English teacher, she stood up, forcefully pushing the chair back into the desk behind her nearly knocking Noel Kahn out of his seat.

'Watch it Montgomery, you could have damaged my pride and joy.' he said directing to his crotch. Aria rolled her eyes.

'Oh I'm sorry Noel, but you do realise that something has to be of a substantial size to be damaged and it don't think you fit the bill.' the class laughed whilst Ezra still stood mortified at the front of the class. Aria turned to face the front and picked up her bag. 'Can I be excused?' she asked staring deep into Ezra's eyes. He couldn't figure out what her eyes were trying to tell him, they looked a mix of angry and scared.

'Miss Montgomery is it?' he asked trying to play coy.

'Yes.' she replied bluntly.

'Why must you be excused this early into the lesson?'

'I have an appointment.'

'Ah well, let me see the slip then.' he replied, a fake smile forming on his face.

'A slip?'

'Yes, Miss Montgomery. I need the slip you will have gotten from the front office confirming the appointment.'

'Oh well. I don't have one.' Aria said confidently feeling certain that he would let her go. After all this whole situation was as awkward for him as it was for her.

'Then I'm sorry Miss Montgomery but you are going to need to sit down so I can continue with the class. No slip, no leaving my lesson.'

'Bu-'

'That will be all Miss Montgomery, anything else you wish to share can be shared with me at the end of class.' Ezra picked up the book in front of him and carried on trying to pretend he hadn't be making out with the pretty girl two rows across from the windows less that 24 hours ago.

'Why do we think Fitzgerald uses Nick as the narrator rather than Gatsby? This will be the essay question you will be given for homework today, I expect at least 1,500 words on this by Friday.' The class collectively groaned. 'Look guys I'm sorry. I know, it's the start of the year and I'm new, but I just want to get you through your senior year with a relatively good grade in English. It looks good for you and good for me if you get a good grade so it's in everybody's best interest. Miss Hastings, if you could please leave the essay until you leave my lesson there is a reason it is called _homework.' _Spencer rolled her eyes.

The bell finally rang and the class began to get moving, putting their supplies in their bags and slowly filing out of the classroom. Aria flicked her hair behind her shoulder and adjusted her boot strap.

'Miss Hastings, can I please see you a moment?' Ezra's voice rang out through the now nearly empty classroom. The only inhabitants were Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna. Spencer nodded and walked slowly up to his desk, Ezra glanced around at the 3 other girls.

'I'm sure Spencer doesn't need groupies. You girls can go.' he said.

'Actually sir you told me if I had anything else to share with you I could share it with you and the end of class. That is unless you want me to share it with _everyone._'

'Ok well I will speak to you in a moment Miss Montgomery.' Ezra said quickly, shifting from one foot to the other (a nervous mannerism of his that Aria has picked up on. #Spencer, I have been told you are looking into a place at U Penn?' Spencer nodded.

'Yes. My sister went there and I love the campus.'

'Melissa.' Ezra said chucking. 'A couple of my school friends went to U Penn, I met her a couple of times. She's actually dating my best friend Hardy so I know her pretty well.'

'Hardy is your best friend?!' Spencer said with a mixture of shock and embarrassment printed on her face.

'Yes. And he is actually who I wanted to talk to you about. He studied Law with English there and if I asked, I'm sure he would be willing to give you a tour. I mean I would probably arrange it so a few students could come and see the campus and speak with an alumni but you would be welcome to speak with him first if you wanted me to invite him into the school for a couple days, I would be willing to let you skip a couple of my lessons to speak with him about his course as I was told law is something you would be interested in?'

'Yeah, Mr Fitz, that would be amazing! I never really spoke to Hardy before. We don't see Melissa all that much. Spencer said sighing. 'Thank you so much!'

'Your welcome.' he said focusing his attention back on tidying his desk. Aria coughed loudly making him aware of the other people that were still in the room.

'You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with you in a minute.' Aria said not taking her eyes off of Ezra. The girls nodded and filed out of the room. Ezra walked over to the door and pulled it shut to ensure no one would hear what they were about to discuss. He walked back over to his desk and took a sip of his coffee.

'Ezra-'

'I'd much prefer you to call me Mr Fitz here.' he said hesitating before saying the final word. Aria nodded forcefully. She bit her lip in thought.

'So I guess we'll cancel Saturday then?' Aria said trying to lighten the mood.

'Look I think you're amazing Aria. When I first met you, I thought "Who is this girl?"

'I'm still that girl.' she said grabbing his hand and starting deep into his eyes, 'Ok? Nothing's changed.'

'Yes, yes it has.' he said pulling away and resting his arm on the chair, 'I'm your teacher.'

'I know that. But doesn't this feel right for you?'

'Aria, I've known you for, what, a day. I can't risk my career on that.' he said staring at the floor. Aria tried to ignore the tears fighting to escape her eyes, she didn't want Ezra to see her like this, to see that she has finally set her hopes on someone for them to be ripped apart again.

'I understand.' she said. She did, she didn't want to, but she did. 'I wish we could've made this work, I wish the circumstances were different.' She mainly just wished she could transfer out of his class but since he was the only AP English teacher, that would mean she would be putting herself miles behind schedule and she couldn't afford to do that if she wanted to study English in college next year.

'Thank you Aria. I'll see you next lesson.' he said avoiding eye contact with her and spinning around in his seat to face the desk. Aria nodded and turned towards the door walking out of the room. She lent against the lockers on the other side of the corridor to the classroom sighing. The click of a pair of heels made her look up. Hanna was walking towards her with a massive smile on her face.

'So we're going to the mall after school. No excuses. We need to sort out that wardrobe.'

* * *

Aria wasn't really sure if the mall was the best thing she could do right now. After all, she did need to watch how much money she had. But she decided, she did have some money in her account and her mum and dad were giving her money each month for food and rent so she did have enough to spare for a shopping spree. She had also secured a job at The Brew which would be able to cover her shopping expenses from now on.

Throughout the school day Aria had been able to think of nothing but her and Ezr'a exchange that morning, she looked upon it with sadness and spent most of 2nd, 3rd and 4th period moping. However by Biology (a lesson she shared with Hanna) she was forced to look forward to their excursion to Rosewood Mall. Since Aria still didn't have a car, Hanna agreed to drive and they spent to 20 minutes drive talking about their love lives. Hanna discussed her boyfriend Caleb, a guy Aria had only met once in passing but after learning more about him, she wanted to meet him again as it sounded like he treated Hanna like the princess she thought she was. Hanna tried to get Aria to open up about anyone she was seeing currently, be Aria confirmed there was no one and she hadn't even been so lucky to have as much as a fling in Iceland either.

_Aria __found Iceland really tough and none of the people at her school accepted her. She didn't actually make one friend whilst she was there. It wasn't like her brother who got on with pretty much everyone and basically every girl wanted to date him. She was the girl who was laughed at not laughed with. Aside from that the place they were living could not have been more different than what she was used to, there were fields for as long as you could see outside of her window and the closest stores were about 30 minutes away. Her mother told her she would get used to it in a month of two but even after a year, she still couldn't get used to the solitariness of it all. Which is why her Dad's contract was up in just twelve months and she could get back to somewhere remotely normal. She wanted to be back in Rosewood, so when her Dad suggested they go to California, she was adamant she wouldn't go and now here she is, without her family. Fighting the big bad world alone. _

When her and Hanna parked up at the mall and made their way inside, the selection of shops astounded Aria. How she had missed Pacsun, Nordstrom, Victoria's Secret and Topshop. She turned to Hanna and sighed.

'I love you Han.'

'And I love you too which is why we're having this intervention.' Aria chuckled.

The two girls spent about 3 hours browsing in various stores and Aria came out with practically double her wardrobe. Hanna of course had bought her weight in clothing, but what was the change there? They squished their bags into the car and made their way home.

'So, where am I dropping you?' Hanna asked.

'Um, just drop me at Whole Foods, I need to get some dinner and I can walk to my apartment from there.'

'So, you're living in an apartment huh?' Hanna said, 'Can I come see it?'

'Um well I'm not really unpacked yet and please can you just keep it quite because I'm not really meant to be living there when I'm under 18 but my Dad knew a couple people so he arranged it.'

'So what, you, your mum, your dad and Mike are all living in an apartment?' Hanna said curiously.

'No, um, my family are in California for my Dad's work. But I couldn't bear to leave again so I decided to stay alone. Besides I'm eighteen in 5 months so it's not for too long I have to stay living in this place in secret.'

'And are you ok with that? Living alone?'

'Yeah, it's fne, I mean I have neighbours so I guess I'll make friends with them an-.' She paused. 'Han, don't look at me like that I'm fine really.'

'So can I come see it at some point?' Aria chuckled at her friend's ability to get what she wanted.

'Seriously, I'm not fully unpacked yet but I promise that when I am you will get the grand tour!.'

'So can I come by Saturday say around 7?' Hanna winked. Aria sighed, that was when she had planned to see Ezra. She sat back up straight in her seat.

'It's a deal.'

* * *

Hanna dropped Aria off at the entrance to Whole Foods and Aria unloaded her huge amount of bags from Hanna's car. In the front Aria could see Hanna reapplying her lipgloss, when she was satisfied she turned around to check that Aria was done with unloading her bags, blew her a kiss and sped off. Aria browsed in Whole Foods for about 5 minutes pondering whether to go for risotto or carbonara. After settling on carbonara, she grabbed the essential ingredients and headed to the checkout desk. She paid for her items and stacked them up in a brown bag. She was beginning to regret not asking Hanna for a ride home as carrying all this stuff was a little tricky. She walked out of the store and bumped straight into a massive lamp post dropping all of her shopping and food. When she looked up, she realised the lamp post was actually a human and that human was in fact Ezra Fitz. He inhaled quickly as she picked her belonging up off the floor.

'Hi.' she said, biting her lip again.

'Hi.' he said quietly avoiding eye contact.

'Sorry for-'

'I can't do this.' he said suddenly

'Can't do what?' she said, getting irritated with his dismissive behaviour.

'This. All of it. Trying to act normal.' he said still avoiding eye contact.

'What so you want me to ignore you?' Aria said irritably.

'I don't know.' he replied.

'Well you better decide what you want. Because you're going to have to see me this year whether you want to to or not so you're going to have to deal with it. You could at least pretend not to be so repulsed by me every time you see me. God, you're a joke you can even look at me. How dare you, how dare you try to make me believe this is all my fault. You are a shallow, rude ass. You could at least accept some responsibility. Every time I see you and you avoid my eyes, I want to cry. I believed you were someone different Ezra and you were someone different last night but today I've seen you with a fresh pair of eyes and today you're just the same as all the other guys out there. You're a jerk.' Aria quickly turned on her heels and walked across the Whole Foods parking lot away from the store. She didn't try to fight the tears this time, she let them fall onto her white blouse as she continued to walk. She didn't look back, she wasn't going to let Ezra Fitz know she was crying for him.

**A/N Hi Guys! So I know I've been a little MIA! I've been so super busy! You haven no idea how long it took me to write this chapter as I got stuck about half way through as I found all of my ideas were too similar to the show.**

**Thank you Kate for all your help on the chapter and for your fabulous guide on how to insert line breaks!**

**Thank you for all of the reviews, favourites and follows so far! I really appreciate it!**

**I probably won't be able to update for another week or two but please stick with me! School is just very hectic right now! Follow me on twitter if you want to know when I will update {It's the same as my penname!} Xoxo**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aria woke up the next morning feeling utterly exhausted and not ready for another day facing him. Considering she had double English straight after lunch she was not feeling up for the day. She pulled herself out of bed discarding her pyjamas as she made her way to the shower. As the warm water began to fall from the shower head and onto her body she began to think of the events of the night before. She hated him, she couldn't believe she had thought he was someone else. He wrote. He taught English. He was a perfect guy, but who knew he could be such an unbelievable ass. She was being the mature one in this situation yet he was trying to dismiss her because of her age? She snorted out loud in disgust at his behaviour. She rubbed her tired eyes and stepped out of the shower and made her way to her room to dress and get ready for school in time. After dressing in a black dress paired with biker boots, she put on a small amount of make up, attempted to smooth her tangled bed hair and rush out of the door. Since she had to wait until tomorrow evening for her car to be dropped off, she had to walk today and had to leave so much earlier than she would if she had a car. She walked up to the life and pressed the down button. Her phone buzzed as she waited.

_Hey Hun, _

_Got us into a college party tonight. The others are too boring so I'm relying on you to come! There'll be plenty off hot guys there you can sink your teeth into _

_xoxo _

Aria laughed at Hanna's humour and stepped into the now open doors and selected G, she locked her phone with the plan of replying to Hanna at school and rummaged in her purse for her wallet so she could buy a coffee from the hut on the ground floor. The lift stopped, Aria looked up. 3 was flashing on the screen on the lift. The doors opened to reveal Ezra standing in his teacher attire, Aria sighed and stepped to the side of the lift distancing herself from Ezra as much as she possibly could.

'Aria, about last night.'

'No. Ezra, you said you couldn't do this, so I won't either.'

The lift pinged signalling they had reached the ground floor and Aria quickly walked out, storming past the coffee hut, the coffee that had been on her mind 2 minutes ago, long forgotten.

* * *

'Sooooo you'll come?!'

'Yes Han, I'll come. On the condition that you don't try and force me to go home with anyone.' Aria gave Hanna a stern look and Hanna responded by widening her eyes. Spencer laughed.

'Ok guys so Hanna's satisfied.'

'No I'm not. We have double English.' she huffed, 'why am I in the AP class anyway, I suck.'

'You don't suck. You just lack the motivation.' Spencer reassured her, 'why don't you ask Fitz to help you out? Who wouldn't love a bit of one on one time with him.' she said in a seductive voice and nudging Hanna. Aria rolled her eyes.

'He seems like a jerk to me, I mean setting us an essay on the first lesson? Bad move. He has a lot to learn anyway, he's basically still and student himself, why should we trust him to teach us. I mean I bet he's not even taking this seriously, he's a college boy, it's clear to see.' Spencer's and Hanna's eyes widened and they began to shake their heads at Aria. She ignored them, she was too far gone in her rant to take any notice. 'He shouldn't be trusted to teach us Shakespeare when he can barely dissect the language himself.'

'Well Miss Montgomery, I am very interested to see what your interpretation of Macbeth is.' a deep voice said behind her. Aria jumped around at the shock of hearing it. She took a sharp intake of breath when she realised he had heard pretty much everything he said. 'Please. Do tell us.'

'Uhhh uh.' Aria stuttered.

'Well let's make a prophecy for you shall we? Just as the witches did for our Macbeth. I think you will be coming to see me this lunch and I shall be finding some work for you to do. And whilst you are doing that work, please feel free to share with me your teaching tips.' he said whilst writing her name on a detention slip. Aria sighed and rolled her eyes as he walked away.

'Great, that means 3 hours of Fitz.'

* * *

Ezra looked up as Aria knocked on the door.

'Come in and shut the door behind you.' he said quietly. 'What's going on Aria, why are you suddenly talking badly about me to your friends?' She went to answer but she quickly discovered the question was rhetorical. 'This is hard for me too Aria, I've just started my first teaching job and that's bad enough without finding out you've made out with one of your students the night before your fist day. If things were different I would try and make this work but I can't. I could get into so much trouble for this and I can't risk that. I'm sorry but I can't.' Aria nodded pretending to understand what he was saying.

'I'm sorry for the way I acted, it just hurts me when you look at me like I'm a pathetic lost puppy standing on your door step. I don't need patronising.'

'I know so shall we just keep this strictly professional now? Clean slate?' Aria nodded. She didn't want a clean slate, she wanted Ezra but this was the most sensible option. 'Ok, well off you go. Thank you for seeing me.'

'Your welcome Mr Fitz.' she said quietly. He wanted more than anything for her to call him Ezra, it pained him to hear her call him 'Mr Fitz' and it brought the reality of this situation crashing down around him. The fact that the girl he found himself falling in love with was his student. He was meant to teach her, not fall in love with her and yet he found himself slowly falling.

* * *

Aria waited for Hanna at her locker after school. Their plan was to go back to Hanna's for a couple hours and then head to the party. It was pretty casual Hanna said so there was no reason to change out of their clothes. Hanna strutted up to Aria smiling as she walked clearly excited about the party.

'Thank you for being my replacement Caleb for the night, he's out with his Dad or something.' Aria smiled.

'Of course I'll be your replacement Caleb Han.'

After 2 hours at Hanna's they decided to head to the party held somewhere in the depths of the Hollis campus. Aria was staying on the outskirts but Hollis was a massive place and had many different sections so the party was pretty far from her apartment but close enough to be able to walk home afterwards. Hanna pulled up opposite the house and found a space to park the car. The two girls walked in, head turning towards Hanna as though she were a magnet as they walked in. When they got inside, Hanna headed straight for the drinks and Aria followed suit concerned that she knew no one but Hanna here. After both having a drink in hand, they headed upstairs where there seemed so be a big group of them all huddled together.

'Hey guys.' Hanna said in her usual charismatic way. A couple of the guys turned and their eyes widened when they saw Hanna. 'Can we join?' she asked.

'Sure, we're gonna play Seven Minutes in Heaven.' a tall blonde boy said. Hanna smiled and downed her drink.

'I'll be right back,' she told Aria, 'gotta top up.' Aria nodded.

'Right, the baby of the group can go first.' said the tall blonde pointing at Aria. Her stomach dropped and her eyes widened. She shook her head. Tall boy laughed. 'Off you go.' he said directing her into a room basically the size of a broom cupboard. She was pushed in by the people behind her and the door shut. A few moments later the door opened again and a tall boy with dark curly hair came in, he stepped on Aria's toes.

'Sorry.' he mumbled. Aria's stomach lurched.

'Ezra?!' she said.

'What? Oh god, what are you doing here?!'

'I came with Hanna! I can't believe this.' Aria was basically pushed right up against him due to the smallness of the room.

'Maybe it's a sign.' Ezra said staring into her eyes the best he could in the dimly lit room. 'What I'm about to do, I'm doing as me, Ezra. Not as Mr Fitz.'

He leaned in and touched her lips with his. He lifted his hand and brushed them through her hair, her hand coming up and resting on his back. He pushed his tongue towards her lips and she opened her mouth allowing him to explore her mouth with his tongue. She moaned into his mouth brushing her fingers through his hair. It was impossible to decipher where he started and where she started, in this moment they were one. He pulled away giving her one last peck on the lips, his hands still entwined in her hair and hers in his. He gazed into her eyes.

'Shit.' she whispered quietly.

'Shit indeed.' he replied.

**A/N Hi Guys! **

**I'm sorry for the shortness of the chapter, I just really wanted it to end at this point! Thank you for the reviews on this story so far, they have all been so lovely! **

**Sorry for the lack of updates, school has been so stressful but I have a break soon so I should be able to write a bit then! **

**Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and I appreciate all feedback and any ideas as to where the story should go! **

**Love you lots xoxox **


	4. Chapter 4

Aria twiddled her thumbs as she sat waiting outside the principle's office. Her toes skimmed the floor with every swing of her legs and her heart thumped as though there was a human inside her chest trying to break out. She felt sick to her stomach. She lifted her hands up to run them through her knotted hair, she heard a noise from her bag, breaking the silence in the quiet corridor. She hurriedly leant down and retrieved her phone opening the one new message.

_Your flight is booked. You will be flying to meet us here on Thursday. I have never been more disappointed. I trusted you Aria._

Aria sighed as she read the text from her father once more, searching for a sign of that affection she would always receive from him. There was nothing, a cold text with no sign of that well known affection.

'Aria Montgomery?' A voice broke her away from her thoughts, her principle's voice. She looked up at his harsh unforgiving face and stood, pushing the chair back so it thudded against the wall. Her books on the seat beside her long forgotten, Aria walked into the principle's office and he followed shutting the door behind her. Inside the office she saw Noel Kahn already seated, he continued to stare straight ahead. Aria slipped into the char beside him and sat up straight, tensing every muscle in her body as she waited for someone to say something.

'After receiving correspondence from a concerned student, it has come to my attention that this relationship is a little less that professional.' Aria breathed in deeply. After Noel had walked in on them at the college party last night, she had tried to explain everything to him and tried to convince him not to tell the school board. She had made it clear how devastating this could be for Ezra but Noel didn't seem to care as first thing this morning he had made his way to the principle and told him everything.

'You need to understand Sir that me and Ez- Mr Fitz, have never-'

'Miss Montgomery, we have enough proof against you, so we needn't hear any excuses. There is a level of trust within this school, to our teachers and to our students. When one or both betray that trust, we must behave in the proper way and we must show some kind of authority.' The pone rang breaking his train of thought. He picked it up.

'Thank you, I'm relieved to know he's in custody.'

'Wait, you're arresting him?!'

'In this state it's a felony for a teacher to have sex with a minor.'

'We didn't have sex?! You can't do this when he's done nothing wrong!'

'I'm afraid it's all too little too late Miss Montgomery. You made your bed and now you must lie in it. Ezra Fitz is going to prison.' Aria's heart shattered into pieces at his final sentence. Even over these past day she had felt such a strong connection to him, she could not let him go to prison for something he didn't do. She stood up abruptly and turned to exit the claustrophobic room.

'Miss Montgomery!' he called behind her. Aria didn't listen, she needed to get to him before they took him away, before they ruined his one chance to live this life he'd dreamed, do the profession he wanted to do. She wasn't going to ruin that and she wasn't going to lay down and watch him ruin it either. She ran down the corridor past a collection of students huddled around a mobile phone, as Aria rushed past they all turned to look at her and then back to the mobile phone. They quietly gasped when they realised she was the girl everyone was talking about. She was the girl that had slept with her teacher. Aria continued to run down the corridor until she reached room 46. As she turned the corner, she heard a grumble of student and what appeared to be a large crowd of people standing around the door of the room. She pushed her way through the seemingly endless sea of students and reached the front of the crowd. Ezra was being pulled up out of his seat and hand cuff were being tied behind his back. He glanced towards Aria with a helpless look on his face and allowed the officers to take him without any signs of restraint. Tears were streaming down Aria's face as she watched them take him away. This was her fault. He had done nothing wrong. She shouldn't have let him kiss her. She shouldn't have let Noel tell. Aria began to feel the world spinning around her, she reached for something to hold but felt nothing. Slowly she began to fall towards the floor. No one attempting to help her. The only person that really cared was gone.

* * *

Aria woke up in a tangle of sheets, sweating and panting. It was a dream. She lent over and looked at her alarm clock. 7.30. Aria's head hit back down on held pillow once more. She thought back to last night's events. The kiss. Ezra. She thought back to her dream. What if they had really been caught? Aria shivered at the thought. Why was she so scared of Ezra being hurt? He was her English teacher. Yet there she was dreaming about him. She still was not sure of her feelings. She couldn't feel this way, she had known him for 3 days. It wasn't right. At the sound of her phone Aria was jolted out of her thoughts and she lent over to pick it up.

_Couldn't find you at the end of the party last night. Guessing you went home with a super cute guy?! I'll get it all out of you at school! _

_Han xo_

Aria sighed, her thoughts still spinning in her head. Why was she dreaming about Ezra? Why was he in her dreams? Why was she feeling like this? She shook her head as if to shake the thoughts away and pulled herself out of bed. Although living independently, she was still a teenager who found it a struggle to drag herself away from the warm nest of sheets each morning even if she was dreaming about being in love with her English teacher. And the thought that these feelings might be real scared her. Alot.

In the middle of her shower, her phone jumped to life pulling her away from the comfort of the warm water. She ran to reach her phone before the final ring ended and caught it just in time.

'Hello?'

'Hello, is this Aria Montgomery?'

'Yes, speaking.' Aria said whilst attempting to pull on some underwear, holding the phone between her head and shoulder in the process.

'We seem to have had a mix up and your car is actually ready now. My colleague has delivered it now instead of this evening. Would it be possible for you to collect it now? We will remove the delivery charge due to the inconvenience.'

'Yes, yes. That's perfect actually. Just give me 5 minutes to get changed and I'll be down to the parking lot.'

Aria hung up the phone secretly glad of the mix up, meaning she would no longer have to walk to school. Although incredibly slender, (mainly due to her vegan diet) Aria was **not **fitness friendly. She quickly pulled on jeans and a patterned shirt and grabbed some matching rings and a pair of earrings. She then rushedly put her make up bag in her purse, opting to do her make up when she got to school and ran to the lift. She hopped in and selected G. Once again the lift stopped on 3 and the doors opened to reveal Ezra Fitz. Aria instantly regretted not putting on any make up and shuffled awkwardly from one foot to the other. Ezra smiled. He thought about telling her how beautiful she looked but then decided against it. He stepped in the lift.

'Aria, about last night.'

'I wanna talk about it. Last night was amazing. I don't know what this is Ezra but it's something and it's something I want to explore. You can't deny, you think this is right for us too.' Ezra bit his lip in thought and stepped closer to Aria. So close that Aria could smell the coffee he had just drunk. All rational thinking escaped her as she grabbed his waist and pulled him closer to her. Their lips met just as they had last night. Aria smiled into the kiss and squeezed his waist. As the lift beeped to signal they were on the ground floor they pulled apart. Ezra smiled knowingly at Aria as he stepped out of the lift and walked away adjusting his satchel on his shoulder. Aria could almost feel the happiness radiating from him here.

She stepped out of the lift and made her way to the parking lot spotting the worker from Easy Drive. She dashed over smiling apologetically for her delay, It turned out to be a very simple matter of signing a few forms and showing ID and the car was hers.

After Jeff (from Easy Drive) had driven away, Aria jumped into her new baby and headed to school. She took pride in driving to school and was so excited when having to find a parking spot in the school parking lot. Since she had been preparing to walk to school, she was pretty early and therefore had to kill half an hour before she headed to registration. She grabbed her bag from the trunk and began to walk to the school building.

'Nice ride.' she heard to her left. She turned abruptly and saw Ezra standing about ten feet away. She smiled bashfully.

'I said we'd talk about it, I didn't say we had to start being nice to each other.'

'Maybe I want to be nice to you.' he said, walking to her side now. They began to walk into the building together. Aria smiled, not sure what to say next.

'Ezra.' she said quietly, 'we have to be careful here. I said we could talk about it and we will but for now I'm still unsure as to what this is and I can't be messed around. I've been burned before.'

'I understand.' he said nodding.

'Thank you.' she said sweetly staring up at him, a look he couldn't quite work out in his eyes. A look with a mix of admiration and adoration. Then both turned at the sudden sound of heels coming down the corridor towards them.

'Aria! Don't even try to lie to me.' Hanna said, completely ignoring Ezra. 'I know you hooked up with someone because I would have found you.'

'Hanna, I think I couldn't find you because you left early when Caleb called.'

'Oh details.' Hanna said dismissively. 'So, tell me all!'

Ezra coughed awkwardly.

'Oh Mr Fitz, sorry.' Hanna said, her expression completely unchanged, 'Do you want a throat sweet, sore throats are a bitch.'

Ezra coughed again to mask the sudden burst of laughter that left his mouth.

'Um, no Hanna, I'll be fine thanks. I will see you girls later and Aria if you need any more help with the assignment, please come and find me.' With that he spun on his heels and made his way down the corridor towards his classroom.

'Soooo...' Hanna said when Ezra was out of earshot. 'Who's the guy?!'

'There is no guy!'

'Aria, I can tell when your lying. Jeez why are you so flushed right now?!'

'I had a dream about...' Aria said desperately trying to think of someone.

'About who?!'

'Um, Noel Kahn.'

Hanna's expression turned to shock and she smiled.

'You always liked him!'

Aria nodded still trying to mask the real reason she flushed. Trying to mask the fact that Ezra Fitz just spun around a winked at her behind her best friend's back. Trying to mask the fact that she was slowly falling in love with him.

**A/N Hey guys! So another update in a week which is rare for me! **

**Sorry for the semi-shock for some at the beginning! But I promise there is a relevance to most big events in the story! (Jeff the car guy doesn't count so unfortunately he may not appear again, unless he makes a cameo!) **

**Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and who had reviewed and everything! Honestly, every single review I received makes me so happy, it's so lovely to know what people think of my writing and the praise that some of you have given me is honestly, such a lovely gift! **

**Once again this chapter is not proofed, so I apologise! I also apologise for the shortness of my chapters, I just can't seem to make them interesting for long enough!**

**Follow me on twitter (allhalewatson) for any update info and if you want to ask anything of me! **

**Thank you so much again xoxo**


	5. Chapter 5

Aria smiled as she heard the bell ring, signalling the end of her final lesson of the day. She gathered her belongings and turned to face Emily and walk out the room.

'Miss Montgomery could I have a moment of your time?' Aria heard the voice from the front of the room call. Her head turned to see Ezra standing by his desk nonchalantly fiddling with papers.

'Let me catch up with you.' she said to Emily.

She walked towards the desk, nervously fiddling with the hem of her cream lace skirt. She bit her bottom lip (a trait he'd noticed she only did when she was nervous.)

'Aria,' Ezra said quietly, 'Are you ok? You seem nervous.'

'Yes, I'm fine. I just don't know how to do this. I mean, how do I behave with you when we're here. It's all well and good when we are in cupboards at parties but this is real life Ezra. I'm aware of the consequences you will face if you get caught and I don't want to be the reason you are risking your career. We met 3 days ago, you can't waste all your opportunities on me.'

During the short amount of time he had known Aria, Ezra could tell she thought very lowly of herself.

Aria caught Ezra gazing at her as if he were deep in thought, she had a feeling the thoughts were about her and she wasn't sure she liked that. Aria had never liked being the centre of attention, she always preferred to be on the sidelines of people's lives rather than slap bang in the middle. She never enjoyed people speaking about her, even for a good reason as she was never sure how to behave when they did, she never knew how to behave when people praise her and she certainly didn't know how to behave when they knocked her down. Sure, she could be herself around her friends but she never knew how to cope when she was alone. Often she would tell herself she wasn't good enough for anyone and sometimes she didn't really understand why people wanted to be friends with her at all. Somehow, she had a feeling that Ezra could tell this is how she felt. She didn't know how she knew, maybe it was the way he started so deeply into her eyes it felt as though he was reading her mind and unlocking her deepest, darkest thoughts.

'I would never dare to say you are waste of any kind. I would be risking a hell of a lot to continue with this relationship. However, I believe Aria that you are someone I am willing to take a risk for. Why can't you see that I am willing to be with you. You need to let me in Aria, I know it's hard but I promise you now that I will always be honest with you and I would never let anyone or anything bring harm to you. What is it that makes you so shut out? Why won't you open up Aria?'

'It's not you. I have a lot of issues that I need to sort out. I've never really learnt to trust myself in a lot of situations, I've never really known how to deal with relationships and I've never really known how to behave socially. I can't be me Ezra because being with you I am forced to hide part of me. I know it's soon but I can feel my feelings for you developing rapidly and I don't want to hide you if you become a serious part of my life. I'm a confused, messed up teenage girl and I find it hard to understand why you would want me.'

'Aria,' Ezra said gazing into her eyes with a reassuring look, 'I want you because you are the most amazing person I have ever had the privilege of meeting and I wish to make memories with you. I can feel myself falling in love with you Aria Montgomery. I don't know. I've known you for less than a week but you seem to have had this astounding impact upon my life and I've never felt this way about anyone before. You Aria Montgomery are my ticket to happiness, and I am not going to let you slip away from me.'

Aria smiled at the feeling of being this truly cherished. She bit her lip and nodded slowly.

'Do you want to come round tonight? We could order in pizza?'

Ezra nodded with excitement and smiled warmly.

'Yes, I'll be round at 6.30? And I promise, I will not try to get you drunk this time!'

Aria giggled at the memory and turned to leave the room. She met her friends outside the school building. As she approached she could see them all (Hanna in particular) slumped on a bench looking totally bored.

'What did your phones all die? Why are you all so bored?'

'How long does is freaking take you to talk to a teacher?!' Hanna exclaimed suddenly causing Aria to jump a little at the sudden outburst of noise.

'I'm sorry.' Aria responded with a hint of guilt in her voice.

'What took you so long anyway?' Spencer demanded.

'Her had to go over an essay report I'm doing for some extra credit.' Aria replied, pleased that she had prepared a story on her way down to meet the girls.

Spencer looked at her sceptically and sighed. Aria turned to Emily expecting her to take her turn to comment but she just smiled and shrugged her shoulders, rolling her eyes at Spencer. Aria chuckled and linked arms with the two girls next to her, Hanna joined on to Spencer's right arm and the four walked to the parking lot smiling.

* * *

Aria finally arrived home at 6pm after 2 hours studying (which consisted of Spencer studying, Emily studying fifty percent of the time, Aria studying but then becoming distracted and stopping and Hanna distracting them all by providing endless amounts of gossip about their peers.) She made her way to her top drawer and pulled out the pizza delivery menu and laid it on the coffee table. She opened the fridge, unsure of what to prepare to drink, after all, she had no alcohol left and she really didn't want to be drinking again. She settled on asking him when he arrived and shut the fridge. She then removed her shirt and skirt and threw them onto the chair next to her bed and ambled over to her dresser, pulling out some yoga pants and a vest top. She then collected her hair into a high pony and continued to tidy her apartment.

She was pretty pleased with how quickly she had managed to unpack all of her belongings into the little space that was available and she had even managed to make the place pretty cosy. Her apartment was pretty much the same as all others in the building (and she assumed the same as Ezra's.) Although the space was small, it was all she needed and all she wanted and she was enjoying her new found independence that came through having her own place.

Aria was pulled out of her thoughts by a soft knock at the door. She walked to the door and opened it to revealed a non teacher version of Ezra Fitz. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and he looked very relaxed considering all Aria had seem him in lately were button down shirts and sweater vests. Aria smiled at the sight of him and welcomed him inside. They soon settled on a pepperoni pizza and garlic bread.

The order arrived pretty quickly and they both devoured their food within ten minutes, barely stopping to talk to each other.

'I guess this is what school does to us,' Ezra joked, 'makes us carnivorous monsters!'

Aria laughed and rested her head on a pillow on her couch. Ezra moved the pizza box from between them on the sofa and pulled her feet up so they were resting on his thighs.

'So what's this about then Aria? Why do you feel the way you do?'

'I don't know what it is about you Ezra, but it scares me the way you can read me like a book so effortlessly. It's as though you are looking into me and you can see someone that nobody else sees and that scares me and excites me.'

Ezra smiled as he heard Aria open up to him further, he enjoyed hearing the sound of her voice and he enjoyed the fact that she could trust him enough to open up to him in this way, something he guess she didn't do with a lot of people.

'I suppose I have never been that open with people. I never enjoy talking about myself and I have a very big lack of self confidence. I find it hard to understand why anybody would love me or why anybody would want to be friends with me and often I have to stop myself thinking these things before I drive myself into a pit of self hatred. A couple of times I have nearly lost it and I have nearly fallen as I felt myself losing grip on the world and the way things are and I began to feel as though nothing was real any more. Last year, while we were in Iceland, I began to suffer from panic attacks, what caused them, I still do not know but I began to feel myself lose sight of everything that was good in my life and I began to only focus on the bad. I felt I couldn't continue with every day activities and I felt myself forgetting who I was and forgetting who would help me. I began to shut everyone who loved me out and I slowly spiralled downwards into the pit of self loathing, there was a point when I didn't know if I would be able to climb back out. I guess I had to look at the universe in a different way, I really wasn't sure of the world and wasn't sure of what was planned for me. Although that experience was the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with in my life, it was also the most helpful as I found a new way to look at the world. It was almost as though I became aware of all the things I didn't know were there before and I began to look at everything a little differently. That was when I started writing, I found it soothed me in a way that nothing else did and as I wrote, my feelings tumbled on to the page and I began to feel that my head wasn't so full any more. But those feelings I felt in the hard times still haven't fully dissolved, I still lack self-motivation and self-worth. I don't see myself as extraordinary. I simply see myself as average and that seems to be something that shocks people. I have never had much self confidence and I doubt I never will but I really don't understand why anyone put confidence in me either, I just really don't understand at all. I wish I could and I wish I could see myself in a different was but I will never praise myself as much as it seems other people want me to and I'm sorry for that.'

Tears were rolling down Aria's face now as she told Ezra everything she had ever kept from everyone else, even her closest friends. She didn't really know why she felt it was right to tell Ezra all this stuff she had never even contemplated telling anyone before but he unlocked something within her that made her feel safe and that made her feel able to share these things.

Ezra reached up and wiped her face with his thumb whilst cupping her face in his hands. He looked at her longingly and then moved his hand to tilt her head up. He leaned in, his lips coming closer to hers.

Aria's phone suddenly rang causing the pair to jump. Aria reached across to the coffee table and picked it up looking at the caller ID.

SPENCER

Aria looked at Ezra apologetically and answered the phone.

'Hey Spence, what's up?' Aria said trying to sound as cheery as possible.

'Yeah, Hi Aria, I just wondered if you could give me the title of that essay you're doing for Mr Fitz as I wanted to get some extra credit too.'

Aria laughed down the phone.

'Spence, do you really need it?!'

'Yeah, I just don't want to drop any marks this semester.' Spencer said seriously.

Spencer was on to her, she knew it. She knew Spencer didn't believe the story she'd made up but she wasn't sure how much of an idea she had about what she was hiding. Knowing Spencer, she wouldn't rest until she got answers. Aria averted her eyes to see Ezra had written an essay title on the notepad on her coffee table and he was holding it up to give to Spencer. It turned out her phone volume was a little too loud. She smiled thankfully at Ezra and recited the title to Spencer down the phone.

'Oh, ok. Thanks.' Spencer said sounding shocked that there was actually an essay. 'I'll see you tomorrow Aria, have a nice night. Love you.'

Aria let out a breath she didn't really know she'd been holding and looked to Ezra.

'Thank you so much.'

'You're welcome. Thank you Aria for opening up to me like that. I really appreciate you doing that as I can tell that is something that is hard for you. I want you to know you can always tell me anything. I will appreciate you and cherish you no matter what you tell me. Everything you have told me tonight has made me realise what a strong young woman you are and how truly blessed I am that you have entered my life.'

Aria's eyes once again filled up with tears, but this time they were of happiness. She turned around so now her head was rested on Ezra's chest. She nuzzled into him and kissed his chest above his shirt. Ezra reciprocated the gesture by kissing the top of her head and stroking her hair.

'Shall we watch a movie?'

Ezra nodded, telling her tonight, they could watch whatever she desired.

* * *

By 10:00pm, the credits of Love Actually were rolling and Aria was fast asleep on Ezra's chest. Ezra sat up slowly and got up off the sofa keeping her head in the same place with his hand, ensuring she wouldn't wake up. He slowly picked her up bridal style, decided the clothing she had was comfy enough for her to sleep in so there was no need to wake her to change. He pulled back her bedsheets and laid her on the bed. He picked up the pen and paper on the coffee table and left her note underneath the essay title he had scrawled earlier.

_Aria, _

_I hope you slept well. I certainly had a fantastic evening and I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Thank you for trusting me, you truly are a beautiful person._

_xox Ezra_

Ezra walked to the door and switched off all the lights in her apartment leaving the small space in darkness, except for the moonlight shining through the curtain-less window on to Aria's sleeping form on the bed.

As he looked back at Aria, Ezra Fitz fell in love the way you fall asleep, slowly and then all at once.

**A/N Ok so I know I totally copied John Green at that last bit but I couldn't resist! **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! **

**The experience I described through Aria in this chapter is something loosely based on my own and I wanted to convey that through my writing in some way and I decided this would be the best way to do it! Sorry if that part seems quite honest but I really was writing from the heart there and I really wanted to kind of get those feelings out! **

**Sorry it's not proofed, it 11.30pm right now and I'm so tired, I just want to sleep! **

**Thank you for all the kind reviews and messages! **

**Feel free to review with any questions or criticism. **

**I love you guys a lot and would like to thank you for all the kind words you leave me, they truly make my day brighter. **

**Lots of love xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

Friday came around awful fast. Aria had woken up at her own pace, allowing her eyes to take their time to adjust to the harsh light allowed in by her curtain-less window. She had jumped in the shower, failing to hear the buzz of her cellphone. As she stepped back out into the cold apartment in only her towel, she saw her phone alight on the bed side table.

_Missed Call x 6 – Ezra _

A frown covered Aria's face as she hit the call button, calling Ezra back, still aware of the fact she was wearing just a towel in a freezing cold apartment (since she was living on a rather small amount of money, heating wasn't something that Aria was able to afford.)

'Hello?' Ezra replied solemnly on the other end of the phone.

'Ezra?! What's happened?! Are you ok?!'

'Yes. Yes. Flat tyre. I was wondering if I could have a ride?'

'Jeez I thought you'd died or something. For goodness sake, please don't do that.'

'Well maybe if you answered the phone the first time, I wouldn't have too. How long will you be?' Aria could almost hear the smirk on his face.

'Just come up.'

'See you in five.'

Aria put down the phone, frustrated that although it was Ezra's problem, he had still managed to make her look stupid. Aria quickly ran to her underwear drawer and pulled out a black underwear set and pulled them on, concerned Ezra may arrive and she would still be sporting only a towel. She then walked to her closet and let her eyes run over the endless fashion possibilities she could choose from. She settled on a coral blazer paired with a zebra print skater dress and coral wedges. She walked over to her vanity and began to powder her face, applying concealer to any blemishes, when she heard a knock at the door. She opened the door to revealed a tired looking Ezra.

'Wow.' Aria said with a smirk on her face.

'I have had a very bad morning Aria. Do not test my patience.'

Aria smiled and let him into the apartment, he made himself comfortable on the familiar couch and looked around the small apartment he had grown quite affectionate for over the past few days. Aria walked over to her vanity and continued to apply her make up and put on her jewellery. When she was ready, she grabbed her zebra print bag and they both headed down to her car.

The lift doors opened and the duo stepped inside. The ride down was quiet and almost a little awkward for Aria until she felt an arm grab her waist and pull her forwards. She felt her chin being tilted up and then Ezra's soft lips on hers. As the doors opened signalling the bottom, they pulled apart, the only evidence of their kiss being a smirk on Ezra's face.

* * *

Aria pulled into the school parking lot with Ezra in shotgun. She managed to avoid knocking anyone down (though she came to a close call when a Junior stepped right in front of her car) and easily pulled into her usual spot near the cafeteria entrance. The parking lots was swarming with students as this was the rush hour to get to morning registration.

'I guess I'll slip out quietly and try to be unseen then.' Ezra suggested. Aria nodded in agreement and turned to remove her keys from the port in the car.

When she looked up, she saw Hanna staring into the window, looking from Aria to Ezra, a puzzled look spread across her face.

'Laters.' Ezra said quickly opening the car door and walking away from the car, in an opposite direction to Hanna.

Aria sighed and grabbed her purse from the back seat. She opened her door and climbed out, her shoes making a sound as she hit the concrete floor with force as her legs swung out of the car. Aria walked over to Hanna, the journey feeling three times as long and any background noise being drowned out by the rush of thoughts flying around her head.

Hanna dropped her hands to her waist, raising an eyebrow.

'Why. Was. Mr. Fitz. In. Your. Car?' Hanna said forcefully, causing Aria to jump at the blondes sudden harshness.

'Um, well he was walking to school and I kinda stopped right beside him and I couldn't not offer him a lift. Come on Hanna I mean that would just be awkward.' Aria stuttered, shifting from side to side, hoping Hanna would believe her lie.

Hanna shook her head.

'You know what would be more awkward?'

Aria shook her head, biting her lip.

'Aria. There are rumours spreading that Mr Fitz is in a relationship with a student. What are people going to think it you're driving him to school? Aria, you can't get involved in this. What will people think of you?'

'Wait there are rumours he's in a relationship with a student?' Aria said, suddenly registering what Hanna was saying.

'Well yes. People have been saying they've seen them together and they've seen a couple notes.' Aria's eyes widened, 'Apparently! Apparently. I mean Aria, I know he's your favourite teacher and all but you can't deny the facts.'

'Rumours.' Aria corrected. She was so confused, she had never been anything other than professional with Ezra at school. Why would anyone have any reason to think their relationship was anything other than strictly teacher-student? Unless there was someone else. Aria's stomach dropped at the thought. She had put her trust into this man, for him to see her only as another high schoolgirl he could mess around. What if he had been playing her? What if she was only one of his high school romances? She felt immediately sick. She also regretted leaving that note on his desk yesterday lunch time. She knew it was a risk doing it but she was feeling high on life and decided to go for it after Wednesday night's success, she thought she should respond to the note he left her. And now boy did she regret that, someone had obviously seen it.

'Well no one saw anyway.' Aria said definitely, 'and it won't happen again.' Hanna smiled and nodded linking her arm with her friend's.

Aria turned back to lock her car and saw a stack of papers left on the front seat. During Ezra's rush to get away from the car, he had obviously forgotten his marking. Aria opened the car door and reached in to grab the papers and turned back to Hanna, shutting and locking the car behind her. Hanna raised an eyebrow questioning the contents of the stack of paper Aria seemed to have found.

'He left it.' Aria said simply. 'I better go and give it back in case he needs it for first period. I'll catch you in home room.'

* * *

There was a small knock on the door and Ezra turned to see Aria staring at him through the window. She opened the stiff door forcefully and made her way into the small classroom. She placed the papers on his desk and looked into his eyes trying desperately to see if she could get any sign of dishonesty from them.

'Are you seeing someone else? Other than me?' Aria said suddenly, deciding if she didn't say it now she never would.

'No. No, of course not Aria. What would make you say that?' Ezra said grabbing her hands but keeping them low, so it wasn't clear to any passers by they were holding hands. He began to stroke her hands with his thumbs whilst continuing to hold them.

'Hanna said just now, there are rumours of you being with a student.' Ezra's eyes widened, 'but I don't know what we could of done that would make people think that there is something going on. So I just assumed-'

'You assumed wrongly Aria. I only want you.'

Aria bit her lip and smiled sweetly. A sudden knocking at the door caused her to jump and to drop Ezra's hands very quickly.

It was Hanna.

'I came to find you what took so long?' she said directly to Aria, clearly ignoring Ezra.

Aria nodded and turned towards the door to meet Hanna.

'Thank you for the papers Aria.' Ezra said, 'everything's good now.' He was hoping she'd understand the true meaning to his sentence.

'Yes. Everything is. Thank you Mr Fitz.'

Her and Hanna walked out of the room and Aria glared at Hanna.

'What?! I didn't want you to be abducted!'

Aria chuckled.

'Hanna, it's a rumour, it's so unlikely to be true. Don't believe everything you hear. Don't treat the halls of Rosewood High as you do the pages of US Weekly.'

'Yeah, you're right. Anyway, he's still pretty hot. Although I heard he's called Ezra. Ew. Girls name or what?!'

'Don't be mean!' Aria said playfully hitting her on the arm, 'it's cute.'

Hanna rolled her eyes.

'Oooo Aria, do you have a crush on Ezra?!' she said poking her in the ribs.

Aria laughed and grabbed her friends arm.

'Come on let's get to home room.' she said, not wanting to lie to Hanna another time today.

* * *

By Saturday evening, Aria had done nearly every piece of work that was set for her on Friday.

She had a good evening at Spencer's with the girls the night before. Although it was lovely for them to be all together again, Aria definitely sensed she was closer with Hanna this time around. She had given them all her new address and they had agreed the next sleepover would be at Aria's new apartment away from the prying eyes of their parents and there would definitely be alcohol involved there! Hanna was unsure as to why Aria hadn't just invited the other two to her apartment when Hanna was going (Saturday evening) but she presumed that perhaps Aria had something to talk to her about or something, so she decided not to bring in up in order to save the other two from feeling left out. They ended the night watching Titanic and eating ice cream and all having a good sob. It was good for them to reconnect as a four and really become friends and Aria was definitely enjoying it.

Aria had spent her Saturday catching up on all of the work she had abandoned on the Friday night and had finally caught up by Saturday evening.

Aria pushed herself up using her arms and walked over to the fridge pulling out a couple cans of coke (she had made sure to ask Ezra prior to the evening what he would want to drink.) She then pulled up her laptop and opened up Facebook browsing through her wall she stopped when she saw a picture of her family. It was a classic family photo of them on the beach huddled together, her father's arm around Mike's with her mother in the middle and her father's spare hand on her mother's shoulder. They looked like a happy little family. Aria scrolled down to look at the caption.

_Family fun in California. Missing our fourth member though, it feels like a piece of the puzzle is missing. Sending you love and hugs Pookie Bear. Hope you're having fun in Rosewood! _

Aria smiled at her mother's words and shut down the window and closed the laptop, pushing it back onto the coffee table. Over the past week, there had been certain times where Aria has missed her family so much it hurt, she had really enjoyed having Ezra there as she didn't know how alone she would feel if she didn't have him. She sighed and rested her head against the cushion of her sofa. There was a sudden knock on the door, she walked over and opened the door to see Ezra standing in his casual attire looking as pleased as even to see her. He leant down and wrapped his arms around her waist, raising her 5'2 frame to equal his 5'11 one. When Ezra has lifted her up high enough he gave her a peck on the lips and placed her delicately on the floor again. Aria giggled, loving the feeling Ezra gave her with small gestures such as these.

He followed her into the apartment and made himself comfortable on the sofa, leaning forward to pick up his can of coke and taking a sip of the refreshing liquid. Aria walked over to the stereo and turned on some music from her playlist and then walked over to join Ezra on the sofa. She picked up her own coke and took a massive gulp. Not realising how thirsty she really was. Ezra smiled and picked up the conversation.

After conversing for what seemed like hours but was only really half of one, the conversation came to a sudden stop and Aria leant her head back singing the line of the song that was playing under her breath.

_Happiness is just outside my window__  
__Would it crash blowing 80-miles an hour?_

_'_God, I love this song.' Aria said.

_Or is happiness, a little more like knocking _

_On your door, and you just let it in _

'Me too.' Ezra said, 'Wanna dance?' he said extending a hand to her.

Aria nodded and they stood up, moving to the empty space in the room.

Ezra pulled her close to him and held one hand in her and put the other behind her back, she rested her head upon his shoulder.

_Happiness feels a lot like sorrow  
Let it be, you can't make it come or go  
But you are gone- not for good but for now  
Gone for now feels a lot like gone for good_

* * *

Hanna stepped into the lift and she selected the fourth floor. It was strangely quiet in the lift although the apartment block seemed nice. She tapped her foot with impatience waiting on the elevator to reach her floor. The sound of her stiletto hitting the floor echoed around the elevator breaking the silence. As the lift reached level 4 she stepped out. She walked up to apartment 4B and went to knock, when she heard movement inside the apartment, indicating Aria wasn't alone.

* * *

Aria was leaning against Ezra's chest and swaying in time to the music, suddenly she felt Ezra loose his grip and as he began to fall back he grabbed the side, but he didn't grab Aria and she didn't grab anything either so she went tumbling forward her head hitting the door.

On the other side of the door, Hanna stepped back in shock at the sudden noise so close to her.

'Ezra!' she heard. Her jaw dropped as she stepped closer to the door listening inside. 'Ouch! I can't believe you did that!'

'Me?! You fell yourself, why didn't you grip something. Damn if that bruises, blame it on someone else.'

Ezra quietly leant forward and kiss the top of her head.

Hanna was still listening intently on the other side of the door, unsure as to why she hadn't heard anything for so long.

'Of course I won't blame it on you.'

'This can be our little secret.' Ezra said, playfully raising his pointer fingers to his lips.

'Yes, our little secret Mr Fitz.' Aria replied mimicking Ezra's gesture.

Hanna stepped back on the other side of the door having heard enough. Aria was the student. Mr Fitz was abusing Aria. She needed to put a stop to the monster. She needed to tell someone what he was doing to her best friend. She turned on her heels and ran down the corridor as fast as her unsuitable shoes could take her. Vowing to tell the principle of the evil Mr Fitz first thing Monday morning.

**A/N Ok guys so that's it! **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I would like to thank everyone who left lovely reviews last time as they wee so greatly appreciated and everyone who contacted me on twitter and told me they liked the story! **

**There should be a new chapter within the next week, but I have exams for the next fortnight so there may be a little bit of a wait and if there is I'm sorry for that! **

**Please review with any kind words or any constructive criticism you may have! **

**And if you want to follow me on twitter it's (allhalewatson) **

**Thank you **

**Lots of love xoxo **


	7. Chapter 7

Hanna sat in her car, unsure how to continue with this. What she should do. She grabbed her purse ad exhaled a rather large breath. She opened her car door and heard her heel hit the floor.

How could she have just left her friend like that, in her moment of need, she ran away because she was unsure of what to do. What if he had hurt her whilst Hanna was busy making her mind up over what to do. This was something she couldn't forgive herself for. She pulled out her white iPhone from her purse and glanced at the time, not really taking it in. It read 8.15pm.

She walked over to the lift, past the closed coffee stand, with something in her stride she had never had before. Fearlessness. She was going to stop this man from hurting Aria any more than he already had done. She was going to make him pay for what he had done.

When arriving at floor four Hanna made her way quickly to apartment B only to hear silence on the other side of the door. Her stomach dropped at the thought of what state Aria could be in on the other side of the door. She quickly lifted her right hand and pounded the door with her fist.

The door opened by a crack to reveal Aria's small face. Hanna felt a weight lift off her shoulders when she saw that Aria wasn't injured.

'Hanna? What are you doing here?' Aria stuttered.

'Cut the crap Aria.' Hanna said forcefully, pushing the door open to reveal Ezra sitting on the sofa holding a can of coke in his hand.

Aria gasped and grabbed Hanna's arm but Hanna shook her off as she continued to walk full steam towards Ezra. Aria almost thought she wouldn't stop and she'd just fall right over the sofa. Suddenly and loud smack echoed the room. Aria flinched and shut her eyes at the sudden sound. Aria opened her eyes to see Ezra rubbing his face and Hanna towering above him her arms folded an expression of rage printed upon her face.

'How dare you! How dare you do this to her you sick twisted man. Do you have any idea how much you could harm her? What you didn't even care when you chucked her against a door? How dare you, I could put you in prison for this and I will.'

'Hanna.' Aria said calmly, trying to calm her down.

'What?! He's got you fooled Aria, he doesn't love you. Stop buying into his lies. He's a monster and needs to be treated like one. Together we can get justice for what he made you do. We can show people who he really is.'

'Hanna!' Aria said a little louder this time. 'It's not like that.'

A flush of realisation covered Hanna's face.

'You're ok with this?'

'I initiated it.' Aria responded biting her lip.

Hanna turned so see Ezra staring at the floor and sighed.

'Well can some please explain this to me then because I'm a little confused. It's not every day your best friend's boyfriend is your AP English teacher.'

Aria nodded and directed Hanna to take a seat on the two seater couch next to Ezra. Hanna purposefully sat as a far away from Ezra as possible placing her purse in between them. Aria rolled her eyes and began to tell Hanna the story of her and Ezra and how truly complicated it really is.

* * *

Aria had been talking for about half an hour now and Hanna had been listening in awe as she heard the story of why her best friend was seeing her English teacher. Hanna was in a world far away from her own as she sat on beige couch listening to Aria's confusing tale.

Suddenly, the soothing sound of Aria's calm voice stopped and Hanna blinked her eyes multiple times, returning to the small apartment. She bit her lip and glanced at Ezra, she saw he was leaning forward, his face in his hands, fiddling with his short, curly hair.

'Hanna.' Aria said suddenly.

'What?' Hanna asked.

'Well?'

'What do you want me to say Aria. Oh yeah that's cool, just carry on screwing your teacher.'

'I am not _screwing _my teacher.' Aria said quietly. 'We haven't...'

'Oh suuuuure.' Hanna replied disbelievingly.

Aria gave her a withering look.

'Please try to understand Hanna.'

'Oh I will understand. But we are telling the other two on Monday and seeing what they have to say.'

Ezra suddenly say bolt upright and his eyes widened, this didn't go unnoticed by Aria.

Aria lent forward softening her voice slightly as she tried to reason with Hanna.

'Look, Hanna we'd rather-'

'Either that or I'm telling.'

Aria swallowed hard and tears filled her eyes.

'Hanna, why are you doing this? You're meant to be my best friend, you're meant to support me.'

'Aria. Don't you see what he's done? He's controlling you. I don't want to let that happen but I don't want to get you in trouble. We are telling the girls or we are telling the principle.'

Aria sighed. Hanna didn't understand nor was she trying to, she glanced over at Ezra and he nodded, confirming he was OK with what she was about to say.

'Ok, we'll tell the girls first thing on Monday morning but Hanna please try to realise, I am the one initiating this relationshp not Ez-' Hanna tensed. 'Not Mr Fitz.'

Hanna nodded and picked up her purse.

She turned, facing Ezra now.

'If you ever do anything to hurt her, I swear to god I will take every single book you own and burn it and then I will burn you.'

Ezra's eyes widened at the violence of the seemingly sweet girl's claim.

'See you Monday.' Hanna said bluntly and strode out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her with such force, her keys on the table next to the door shook.

The only sound in the apartment was the distant sound of Hanna heels on the floor as she strode down the corridor.

Aria walked over and sat down on the couch beside Ezra. She reached over and held his hand on his knee, caressing it with her thumb. Ezra sharply intook a breath and exhale loudly.

'Ez-'

'What are we going to do?' He interrupted. 'If this comes out, I'll never be able to get another teaching job. I'll be tarnished, Aria what can we do. I was so stupid. I didn't realise how dangerous this whole situation really was. If we get caught I could lose my job and you could be humiliated.'

His panicked list continued for a minute or two more until Aria shushed him when he became to hysterical.

'Ezra. If you want this to end, it would hurt me, but it can end. I know there is an issue when it comes to us being public and I know how many problems this relationship has the potential to cause for you and I want you to know that I will stand by you or I will leave you, whatever you want me to do. You think I care about being humiliated? My parents used to call me Pookie Bear. In public. When I was 12.'

Ezra chuckled and Aria smiled at seeing the light come back to his eyes once more, the way there was a light when he spoke about writing.

Ezra sighed deeply and stared into Aria's eyes, the way he did sometimes. It made Aria feel as though he was reading her mind, deciphering her every thought. It made her feel happy that there was finally someone else who could understand her. She felt as though she had finally found her other half and she was hesitant now as she was unsure as if she would have to let him go.

'I am willing to take a risk for you Aria. You will discuss this with the girls on Monday and the girls must be the only people that know. If they condone it and agree not to tell the principle, I will take this risk with you for as long as I can because you, Aria Montgomery are someone entirely different, you have crashed into my life with such force, you have blown me off my feet. Everyday I get to learn more about you, you astound me and I am amazed by your knowledge and wisdom. I am not willing to let that go and I am not willing to let you go.'

Aria lent into Ezra's chest, feeling welcomed by the familiar scent. They lay there in silence for who knows how long, simply enjoying the presence of each other and enjoying the time they shared.

* * *

Monday morning came around all to soon for Aria. She made her way to school slowly. Hoping she wouldn't see any of the girls. She didn't want to have this conversation. At all.

As she pulled into a space in the school parking lot, her phone buzzed. She reached into her purse and pulled it out.

_The girls are set for lunch. We will meet you in the back courtyard. I mean what I said Aria. _

Aria took a harsh breath. She sighed, Hanna's usually bubbly text persona was non existent in this cold message.

She shook her head and got out of the car, dreading the walk into school and dreading the lunch time to follow.

* * *

The bell rang after fourth period signalling lunch and signalling doomsday for Aria. She rushed to her locker and grabbed the salad she had prepared at home and made her way to the courtyard ready to meet her friends.

When she arrived she saw all three of them sitting on a bench. There was no one else in the area. Aria wondered if Hanna had planned this. She walked over and sat down, she was greeted by a smile from Spencer and Emily and a frosty look from Hanna.

'Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed thins morning!' Spencer joked directing towards Hanna.

'Aria.' Hanna said, ignoring Spencer's comment. 'Please, go on.'

Aria began to tell the whole story of her and Ezra to the girls, leaving out a few details that Hanna kindly filled in. She saw their faces change as the story went on, looking more and more filled with dissaproval, Aria's heart sank. She wanted at least one of them to understand. One of them to stand by her but both of them deserted her when she needed them most and both of them hate her for what she has done, she can just tell.

She then told the two of Hanna's ultimatum and how telling them was the choice she had to make and how the three together would decide what happened next.

The two girls looked at Hanna with a look she couldn't decipher, were they mad at Hanna or Aria? She couldn't quite tell.

She sat up straight as she finished her story, wondering what the first words to come out of the duo's mouths would be. She looked from Spencer to Emily and then to Hanna, who seemed to of lightened her facial expression to a mildly frosty look.

Aria swallowed and coughed wait for someone to say something.

'Well. Hanna certainly dealt with it one way.' Spencer said dissaprovingly.

Hanna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

'I dealt with it in the proper way.'

'Han, did you need to treat Aria so badly, she could have needed you, but you just shut everything she said down. Did you even take the time to listen to what she had to say about her feelings?'

'I just found out a massive piece of information, d you expect me a react rationally?!' Hanna defended herself.

'Hanna. Don't make this about you.' Spencer warned.

'You're right. I handled this in the wrong way, I'm sorry Aria, I should have further listened to what you had to say.'

Aria, reached across the table and held Hanna's hand over her coffee cup, she squeezed it and smiled at Hanna. Hanna reciprocated the gesture.

'Aria. We're gonna support you.' Spencer said. 'There is no need to go to the principle, but you have to be careful, know what you're getting into. We love you and want what's best for you and if he makes you happy, we'll support you.'

Emily nodded in agreement.

Aria smiled and tears welled in her eyes.

'You have no idea how happy that makes me. That you guys support me in my decisions and you believe in me. Thank you.'

Emily, Hanna and Spencer smiled at Aria and Aria felt a warmth in her heart she had only ever felt from Ezra before. She finally felt loved by a group of friends, something she hadn't felt for 2 years.

The bell jolted them all out of their moment and signalled the end of lunch break. The four girls got up.

'You guys go ahead I'm just gonna grab a coffee' she said walking towards the coffee hut on the other side of the courtyard.

Whilst in the queue, she reached into her bag and grabbed her phone.

_Well Mr Fitz, looks like you won't have to let me go just yet. _

Ezra's phone buzzed on the other side of the school with a text from Aria, the text he'd been waiting all morning for. He breathed deeply as he opened and read the message. (Since he was a new teacher, he didn't have a homeroom class and therefore had this time free each day.)

He read the message quickly and released the breath he had been holding and a wide grin spread over his face as he realised the girl who came crashing into his life would not be crashing out of it any time soon. Aria Montgomery was not going to leave and he wasn't planning on ever letting her go.

**A/N Hey Guys! **

**Sorry it's not proofed, I wish I had the time to proof it! **

**I've had exams at school so I have lost the chance to write lately but hopefully after this week, I should be able to update more! You should be able to expect a chapter for next weekend! **

**I would like to thank you all for all of the reviews and feedback I got for the last chapter and throughout the entirety of this story, I cannot tell you how much it means! **

**Please review with any feedback or with any ideas of where you want the story to go! Or feel free to tweet me {links in bio} with any feedback! I love receiving your tweets! **

**I hope you guys are all well and you're beginning to get into the Christmas spirit already, I know I certainly am! **

**Lots of love xoxoxoxo **


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